Another year, another Remembrance Day, another manufactured ‘poppygate’ debate. More media time was devoted to discussing the merits of football players wearing poppies, than was spent questioning Cameron’s motives in pushing for NATO intervention in Libya.
With each year that passes, politicians and media pundits grow ever shriller in their promotion of the poppy as some kind of national symbol, apparently standing for our national heritage, patriotism and obligatory respect for dead soldiers. Yet often, it is those who shout the loudest about wearing the poppy who have the most blood on their hands.
As politicians bin their poppies and get back to the day’s business of boosting troop numbers in Afghanistan and oiling arms sales to dictatorships, why are why growning numbers of ordinary people becoming alienated from the poppy’s significance?
The remembrance poppy we see today has been used since 1920 to commemorate soldiers who have died at war. First used in the US to remember soldiers who died in WW1, now they are worn in mainly current and former commonwealth countries to commemorate service men and women who’ve died since 1914.
Remembrance commemorations have always been controversial; from as early as 1919 when returning soldiers were appalled by what they saw as the glorification of a squalid and meaningless loss of life.
In the past poppies would just be worn on Remembrance Day, but in recent years public figures, from politicians to journalists have vied to flaunt their patriotic credentials by sporting the lapel ornament earlier and earlier, while media organisations are bombarded with letters of complaint if they allow so much as a weather forecaster to appear without one.
Where we stand
It’s tragic when a working class 18 year old, driven by economic pressures into the military, is injured or dies on the job. But we must also remember that even in this case, those living in the countries they invade, who suffer death and destruction, often did not choose to go to war. It was forced upon them, by the very richest people in the Western world sending orders to the very poorest. We support those suffering from imperialist invasion to fight back against oppression. We support the right of soldiers to defy the orders of their officers.
The profits raised from sales of poppies go to The Royal British Legion, a charity which raises money to provide support for injured soldiers and their families. In the 21st century wars, an increasing number of soldiers are surviving injuries which would have been fatal just a few decades ago. This has meant the cost for supporting ex-personnel has rocketed, with the government increasingly unwilling to stump up for the intensive support required for its soldiers, many of whom suffer from mental health problems and multiple amputations.
However the British Legion is actually run by some of the same people responsible for the lives and limbs lost by the serving solidiers they claim to help. Not only is their national patron the Queen of England, but their National President Sir John Kiszely was Senior Military Representative during the Iraq war, and had to give evidence to the recent public enquiry.
For those that want to prevent imperialist wars for oil, and remember those who were killed by British troops as well it’s easy to see why we can’t wear the Royal British Legion’s money-spinning poppy. Which, let’s face it, is as much about British nationalism as it is about helping the needy. The symbolism of the poppy is not encapsulated by the individual’s reasons, but by the attitude of those who promote it, those who profit from it, and ultimately those who flaunt it while continuing to send young people to kill and be killed all across the world.
Anti-imperialists remember the sacrifice of millions in imperialist war by fighting against it – not just on armistice day, but all year round.
Read more:
The human cost of UK imperialism
Is war inherent to capitalism?
Good article ..anti imperialist, yeah of course…..but…for me and my grandad he remembered the first world war as a massive lose of working class peoples lives for nothing!!! he never glorified it…he comemorated it, becuse of the senseless loss of life…..and hated that all those men dies for nothing….this wasnt british soldeirs invading a country, anti imperialist struggle and all that…..thats the problem….its important t o point out that yeah in many cases the british army were scum bag imperialists….but dont alienate peple by slagging all the soldeirs off…so mnay people lost family members becuse they were being used as cannon fodder by ..the queen and her mob…..dont slag off the poppy..people think you are mad….Point out the hypocricy of the queen and the british legion leading the cooemeration and so on….but its important to start from the stand point…of yes i think its fucking terrible all those guys died for nothing…and we should…mourn their deaths …then explain why they died…….
Yes, it’s important to understand the effects of war, and modern war in particular in desensitising soldiers to violence towards civilians. This is the number one cause of psychological problems for returning soldiers… and of course desensitising – or turning the people you’re occupying into the ‘enemy’ is all part of the training. We don’t blame the rank and file soldiers for the tragedies of war, but the politicians and generals who oblige them to turn every civilian into an enemy, with all the consequences that entails.
Hi Nick I agree with the points you make, but I thought the article made them clearly. I too think we need to be careful about ‘slagging off’ the poppy, but at the same time there are many people in Britain today who do feel uncomfortable with the pomp and nationalism tied up with the ceremonies.
There have been numerous stories of White Poppies being banned at remembrance ceremonies, and it’s worth remembering that for many people in this country who don’t have a wholly ‘British’ heritage – the “these men died for their king and country” message is used to glamourize future imperialist war.
I think most people forget what the Poppy is about, I remember a year or two back when those Muslim men ran into the Streets burning a Poppy, breaking the minute silence. People were outraged at the disrespect shown. They however forgot to remember the disrespect we have shown, by turning up, destroying their home land, murdering members of their familys. I thought there actions were horrible, but we drove them to do it, I believe we should only be remembering those lost in the 1st and second world wars, via the Poppy, the war in Afghanistan needs to be remembered under a different symbol as that was a war I felt we didn’t need to get our hands stuck into.
The problem with the poppy is its bloody charity.
The state sends of its young, predominantly working class. men and women to maim and kill predominantly working class men and women in another country and you know what some of them get killed if they’re lucky but the unlucky just get maimed.
So does the state honour its fallen, support these people and their families. No they leave it to charity.
As an ex-sailor they can stick their poppy where it hurts the most.
As an ex-member of both the Regular and Reserve Forces, I choose not to wear a poppy – red or white. I drop a pound or so in every collection tin (I know that they’re not tin, but I completely forgotten what to call them!) and support the aims of all charities who work to help serving and former members of the Forces – including the RBL.
However, some of your comments regarding the “outing” of non-poppy wearers on TV or in the public spotlight rings true. It is ridiculous that choosing to wear a poppy can’t be left upto the individuals concerned. Not as a matter of concience, but as a simple matter of choice.
As far as some of the comments made on here are concerned, you should remember that it’s not “nationalism” as all those who served from whatever country they came from are remembered.
My family are Irish and I lost relatives in the two World Wars. My relatives came over to England specifically to join the Army. I served in Northern Ireland and lost friends over there. I have had friends serve in the Falklands, Bosnia, Sierra Leone, Iraq and Afghanistan and all the other little wars in between and on Rememberance Sunday, it’s them I remember.
So, you’re free to choose however you want to remember, but please don’t make the mistake of doing down those who choose to remember the fallen and injured in their own way.